A fire that destroyed a one-story, single-family home on Bay Street Monday morning has drawn the attention of state investigators.

The Massachusetts State Fire Marshal’s office is on the scene of a blaze that was first reported to the Taunton Fire Department at 3:10 a.m. State police assigned to the fire marshal’s office and the Taunton Fire Department are investigating and expect to use heavy construction equipment to remove material from the charred remains and find the fire’s origin.

Taunton firefighters said there was already “heavy fire” when they arrived. One man who lived in the house was standing outside, the Taunton fire officials said.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office said the man was not sleeping when the fire broke out.

“This one had heavy involvement on arrival,” said Taunton Deputy Fire Chief Michael Sylvia. “We believe there was a head start. We want to determine what the cause was.”

State police brought accelerant-sniffing dogs to the scene. State Trooper Mike Fagan walked around the house with a black Lab named Damian. Investigators from the Taunton Police Department were also there Monday morning.

State Fire Marshal's Office spokeswoman Jennifer Mieth said investigators confirmed that the man was not sleeping when the fire broke out, although only as part of the initial investigation to discover whether fire alarms may have worked.

“No one was sleeping in the house last night,” she said. “He was not sleeping inside the house. It’s only relevant now for (the question:) Did the smoke alarms wake people up? If no one is asleep, it doesn’t matter.”

Mieth said the cause of the fire is still undetermined.

“It’s under investigation," Meith said, "with investigators on the scene working on it right now. … It’s nothing, except under investigation. There is a lot of damage. We will use heavy equipment to remove debris to really get in there, and try to see what caused the fire.”

Mieth said that the home insurance company for the house will bring in heavy equipment on Wednesday to “de-layer” the debris. In the meantime, police and fire investigators are conducting interviews.

“The building is collapsed and they want to get into the basement,” Mieth said later in the day. “They have been working with the insurance company ... (and) try and pinpoint where the fire started and a possible cause.”

No firefighters were injured battling the blaze, Sylvia said. The last fire engine cleared the scene at 7 a.m., leaving investigators to their work.

“No interior operations were conducted,” Sylvia said. “We fought it from the exterior due to the heavy fire involvement on arrival. The house is a total loss..”

Page 2 of 2 - A fire also took place nearby at 43 Bayberry Lane on Friday morning, which left two Siberian huskies dead.